1. Field of the Invention (Technical Field)
The present invention is a billiard ball rack for compactly arranging billiard balls on a table.
2. Background Art
Billiards refers to a number of different games played with a cue stick and hard balls on a table covered with cloth. The most common version of billiards is pocket billiards, also known as pool, in which fifteen balls are used. At the start of the game, the balls are placed on the table in a compact triangular shape followed by the "breaking" of the balls with the cue ball. A billiard ball rack is typically used to organize the balls into a triangular shape and then to position them on the table. The rack is generally larger than the arranged balls, so that the balls can be placed inside the rack. The balls must then be compressed into a compact triangular shape by mechanical means and/or manually. Usually, this is done by the user pushing the bottom row of balls towards the apex of the triangular rack. The rack must be removed very carefully if the player wishes to avoid jostling any of the balls out of position. In practice, this can be a problem even when the player exercises great care.
Several U.S. patents disclose various kinds of billiard racks designed to mitigate this problem.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,052,461 to Chase, describes a rack comprising three fixed bars which form an equilateral triangle. Located inside the triangle and attached to one of the bars is a presser bar which can be moved forward to squeeze the balls towards the apex of the triangle. The inner faces of the bars are beveled downward in order to avoid disturbing the balls after they have been set up.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,089,140 to Madigan, describes a rack in which two side arms swivel about either end of a base arm. The two side arms can be latched at the apex of the triangle formed by the three arms, and an additional presser bar which pivots out from the base arm is used to force the balls into a compact arrangement.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,725,494 to Varnum, claims a pool-ball rack comprising a base with side members hinged to each end of the base, so that when the free ends of the side members are brought together the balls are compressed together into the conventional triangular arrangement.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,405,677 to Volpe, describes two side bars and a rear cross bar which are rigidly connected together to form an equilateral triangle. A ball adjusting tube is attached to the rear cross bar permitting the balls to be manually pressed together. In order to minimize any disturbance in the position of the balls when the rack is removed, the inner surfaces of the side bars are recessed, resulting in added clearance for the balls.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,992,005 to Richey, claims a rack comprising three interconnecting arms connected by two hinges as well as a ball and socket joint that is constructed to pop open when the last ball is inserted into the triangle formed by the three arms.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,965 to Smith, claims a pool rack comprising a frame in the shape of an equilateral triangle. A push bar operated by push buttons is attached to one of the sides. Through manual operation of the push buttons, the push bar is pressed against the balls towards the apex thereby squeezing them together.
None of these devices discloses multiple compression bars acting simultaneously from all three sides of the billiard rack, thereby applying force equally from all three directions by forcing the balls to the center. All of these devices suffer from the same deficiency of forcing the balls towards one or more corners of the triangle, usually causing the balls to be moved when the rack is removed. The present invention avoids the problem of disturbing the balls during rack removal. In addition, a user simply pushes down on the retractable actuator to pack the balls. Accordingly, there is a need for a billiard ball rack that compresses the balls by applying force symmetrically from all directions.